Gunn, James E
Entry updated 29 July 2023. Tagged: Author, Critic, Editor.
(1923-2020) US author, critic and teacher, born in Kansas City and educated at the University of Kansas, where he worked and taught – ultimately as professor of English and journalism and Director of the Center for the Study of Science Fiction, now the Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction – from 1958 to 2010, and where he remained Professor Emeritus until his death. Throughout his academic career, he published considerable sf criticism, beginning with excerpts from his MA thesis in Dynamic Science Fiction (1953-1954) and continuing with the brief The Discovery of the Future: The Ways Science Fiction Developed (1975). More notable is a competent illustrated survey of sf, Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (1975; rev 2018), although it inevitably suffers from excessive compression in its attempt at comprehensive coverage of later years, with many writers appearing only as names in paragraph-long lists; a slightly more ample coverage of Women SF Writers is included in the 2018 revision. Later, he edited The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1988), a shortish and film-dominated but alphabetical text which was not a new version of or otherwise connected with the first edition of The Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (1979) edited by Peter Nicholls; nor are the further editions of this Encyclopedia (1993; online 2011-current) connected to their near namesake. Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (1982), a loyal but convincingly couched study, won the Hugo award. Essays of interest were assembled as Inside Science Fiction: Essays on Fantastic Literature (coll 1992; exp 2006). For this critical work Gunn won the 1976 Pilgrim Award and the Thomas D Clareson Award in 1997. He served as President of Science Fiction Writers of America in 1971-1972, and as President of the Science Fiction Research Association in 1980-1982.
Gunn began publishing sf with "Communications" for Startling Stories in September 1949 as Edwin James (his middle and first names), switching to James Gunn in 1952 after ten stories. Most of his surprisingly numerous independent tales have been assembled in Future Imperfect (coll 1964), Breaking Point (coll 1972), Some Dreams Are Nightmares (coll 1974), The End of the Dreams: Three Short Novels About Space, Happiness, and Immortality (coll 1975) and Human Voices: Science Fiction Stories (coll 2002), but throughout his career, Gunn's favoured form was the short story or novelette adroitly assembled into Fixups. His collaborations were also central. His first two books were Space Operas. This Fortress World (1955) pits its protagonist against a repressive future Religion. Star Bridge (1955), with Jack Williamson, shows through a sometimes pixillated intricacy of plotting the mark of its senior collaborator's grasp of the nature of good space opera. Everyone, it turns out, is being manipulated, for the salvation of mankind, by an immortal Chinese with a parrot (see Godgame). Station in Space (coll of linked stories 1958) assembles several relatively uninteresting early tales about how Man is tricked into space exploration for his own good. The Joy Makers (fixup 1961) describes, in Gunn's dark, ponderous, cumulatively impressive manner, a society whose members are controlled by synthetic forms of release that corrode their sense of reality (see Perception). In The Immortals (fixup 1962), his best-known work, a mutation confers Immortality upon a group of people who become collectively known as Cartwrights; as their condition is transmissible to others by blood transfusion, they are forced underground by the understandable desire of mortal men to attain immortality. The hospital setting of the book adds verisimilitude. As The Immortal (1969), it became a made-for-tv series, which Gunn novelized as The Immortal (1970).
Two novels from 1972 – both woven into fixup form as was now Gunn's normal practice – demonstrated his quiet, cognitively alert, grasp of the world as conceived through sf means: The Burning (fixup 1972) is a Post-Holocaust vision of surviving humanity so saturated by technology that only Alien intervention (see Exogamy) can restore a sense of autonomy to the race; The Listeners (fixup 1972), makes productive use of its episodic structure in depicting the installation of an electronic SETI listening post to scan for radio messages from the stars, and the hundred-year wait that ensues. Gunn's sober, somewhat morose style (in his better moments he evokes a kind of sense of the melancholy that can underlie expressions of the Sense of Wonder) nicely underlines the complex institutional frustrations and rewards of this long search. Indeed, his forte seemed to lie in the narrative analysis of stress-ridden administrations and their administrators as they squirm under the challenge of the future; and his best work is usually set in organizations or among groups of people forced to cooperate. Perhaps typically of the work of his generation of sf writers, however, women (see Women in SF) tend to be excluded from the higher purposes of such organizations, and are sometimes depicted baulking at the sacrifices men must make to reach the stars. Nevertheless, Gunn made a considerable success of his chosen length and venue, and his later works – particularly Crisis! (fixup 1986) – ruminate absorbingly on the administration of humanity's problems to come, as does the much more recent Riley and Asha sequence comprising Transcendental (2013), Transgalactic (2016) and Transformation (2017), all three assembled as Transcendental: The Trilogy (omni 2020). Epic Space Opera topoi mix freely here with structural analogues to authors as remote as Geoffrey Chaucer (1343-1400); the Starship where much of the action takes place is specifically referred to as a Ship of Fools; the disruptive impact of an adolescent Homo sapiens upon a multi-species galactic civilization at rest is wryly noted.
Gunn's autobiography, Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction (2017), informatively transacts his personal and literary life, with a natural focus on his seventy years of active involvement in the field (see Longevity in Writers); it is a valuable document. For all his work as teacher, academic, encyclopedist and author he was given the SFWA Grand Master Award in 2007, and was inducted into the Science Fiction Hall of Fame in 2015. [JC]
see also: Anti-Intellectualism in SF; Asimov's Science Fiction; Astronomy; Bibliographies; Communications; Critical and Historical Works About SF; Dystopias; Galactic Empires; Games and Sports; Genre SF; Golden Age of SF; John W Campbell Memorial Award; Leisure; Magic; Medicine; Psychology; Sociology; Utopias; Worldcon.
James Edwin Gunn
born Kansas City, Missouri: 12 July 1923
died Lawrence, Kansas: 23 December 2020
works
series
Star Trek
- Star Trek: The Joy Machine (New York: Pocket Books, 1996) with Theodore Sturgeon [tie: adapted by Gunn from an unproduced Star Trek script by Sturgeon: Star Trek: pb/]
Riley and Asha
- Transcendental (New York: Tor, 2013) [Riley and Asha: hb/Stephan Martinière]
- Transgalactic (New York: Tor, 2016) [Riley and Asha: hb/Thom Tenery]
- Transformation (New York: Tor, 2017) [Riley and Asha: hb/Thom Tenery]
- Transcendental: The Trilogy (Golden, Colorado: ReAnimus Press, 2020) [omni of the above three: pb/Clay Hagesbusch]
individual titles
- This Fortress World (New York: Gnome Press, 1955) [hb/Murray Tinkelman]
- This Fortress World (New York: Ace Books, 1957) [dos: cut version of the above: pb/Ed Emshwiller]
- This Fortress World (New York: Tor, 2014) [new afterword by Gunn: pb/Gregory Manchess]
- Star Bridge (New York: Gnome Press, 1955) with Jack Williamson [hb/Mel Hunter]
- The Joy Makers (New York: Bantam Books, 1961) [fixup: pb/William Hofmann]
- The Immortals (New York: Bantam Books, 1962) [fixup: pb/Mitchell Hooks]
- The Immortal (New York: Bantam Books, 1970) [tie to The Immortal: pb/]
- The Burning (New York: Dell Books, 1972) [fixup: pb/Robert Foster]
- The Listeners (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1972) [fixup: hb/Jerry Thorp]
- The Magicians (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1976) [fixup: hb/Frederick Andersen]
- Kampus (New York: Bantam Books, 1977) [pb/Bob Larkin]
- The Dreamers (New York: Simon and Schuster, 1980) [fixup: hb/Lisa Falkenstern]
- The Mind Master (New York: Pocket Books/Timescape, 1982) [fixup: vt of the above: pb/Lisa Falkenstern]
- Crisis! (New York: Tor, 1986) [fixup: pb/Bill Johnson]
- Gift from the Stars (New York: BenBella Books, 2005) [fixup: pb/Adrian Mast]
collections and stories
- Station in Space (New York: Bantam Books, 1958) [coll of linked stories: pb/Walter Murch and Jerry Powell]
- Future Imperfect (New York: Bantam Books, 1964) [coll: pb/Paul Lehr]
- The Witching Hour (New York: Dell Books, 1970) [coll: pb/]
- Breaking Point (New York: Walker Books, 1972) [coll: hb/Enrico Scull]
- Some Dreams Are Nightmares (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1974) [coll: hb/Angela Foote]
- The End of the Dreams: Three Short Novels About Space, Happiness, and Immortality (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1975) [coll: hb/Bob Strimban]
- Tiger! Tiger! (Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm, 1992) [story: chap: originally written in 1952 but not published then: pb/]
- The Unpublished Gunn, Part One (Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm, 1992) [coll: chap: pb/]
- The Unpublished Gunn, Part Two (Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm, 1996) [coll: chap: pb/]
- Human Voices: Science Fiction Stories (Waterville, Maine: Gale Group/FiveStar, 2002) [coll: hb/Vincent Di Fate]
- Breaking Point (no place given: Project Gutenberg, 2007) [story: ebook: first appeared March 1953 Space Science Fiction: na/]
- The Gravity Business (no place given: Project Gutenberg, 2015) [story: ebook: first appeared January 1956 Galaxy: na/]
nonfiction
- The Discovery of the Future: The Ways Science Fiction Developed (College Station, Texas: Texas A and M University Library, 1975) [nonfiction: chap: pb/]
- Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction (Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey: Prentice-Hall, 1975) [nonfiction: hb/Philip Grushkin]
- Alternate Worlds: The Illustrated History of Science Fiction, Third Edition (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2018) [nonfiction: exp rev of the above: pb/]
- Teacher's Manual: The Road to Science Fiction (New York: New American Library, 1980) with Stephen H Goldman (1943-1991) [nonfiction: chap: Goldman also served as Associate Editor for Gunn's New Encyclopedia and was its major contributor: pb/]
- Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (New York: Oxford University Press, 1982) [nonfiction: hb/Alex Schomburg]
- Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1996) [exp rev of above: hb/nonpictorial]
- Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction Success (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005) [exp rev of above: pb/]
- Isaac Asimov: The Foundations of Science Fiction (Revised Edition) (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 1996) [exp rev of above: hb/nonpictorial]
- Inside Science Fiction: Essays on Fantastic Literature (San Bernardino, California: The Borgo Press, 1992) [nonfiction: coll: hb/]
- Inside Science Fiction: Second Edition (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2006) [nonfiction: coll: rev vt of the above: pb/Enterline Design Services]
- The Science of Science Fiction Writing (Lanham, Maryland: The Scarecrow Press, 2000) [nonfiction: pb/Jamie M Good]
- Paratexts: Introductions to Science Fiction and Fantasy (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2013) [nonfiction: coll: hb/]
- Star-Begotten: A Life Lived in Science Fiction (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2017) [nonfiction: pb/Jason Dailey]
- Modern Science Fiction: A Critical Analysis: The Seminal 1951 Thesis, with a New Introduction and Commentary (Jefferson, North Carolina: McFarland, 2018) [nonfiction: pb/]
- The Reading Protocols of Science Fiction: Discourses on Reading SF (Golden, Colorado: ReAnimus Press/Advent:Publishers, 2021) [nonfiction: coll/anth: edited and introduced by Michael R Page: pb/Clay Hagebusch]
works as editor
series
The Road to Science Fiction
- The Road to Science Fiction #1: From Gilgamesh to Wells (New York: Mentor Books, 1977) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/Paul Stinson]
- The Road to Science Fiction #2: From Wells to Heinlein (New York: Mentor Books, 1979) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/Paul Stinson]
- The Road to Science Fiction #3: From Heinlein to Here (New York: Mentor Books, 1979) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/Paul Stinson]
- Teacher's Manual: The Road to Science Fiction (New York: New American Library, 1980) [nonfiction: chap: listed here as a teaching manual tied to the series: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/]
- The Road to Science Fiction #4: From Here to Forever (New York: Mentor Books, 1982) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/Rich Courtney]
- The Road to Science Fiction #5: The British Way (Stone Mountain, Georgia: White Wolf, 1998) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/]
- The Road to Science Fiction #6: Around the World (Stone Mountain, Georgia: White Wolf, 1998) [anth: The Road to Science Fiction: pb/Kathy Ryan]
Astounding Stories
- Astounding Stories: The 60th Anniversary Collection, Vol 1 (Norwalk, Connecticut: Easton Press, 1990) [anth: Astounding Stories: hb/Howard V Brown]
- Astounding Stories: The 60th Anniversary Collection, Vol 2 (Norwalk, Connecticut: Easton Press, 1990) [anth: Astounding Stories: hb/Howard V Brown]
- Astounding Stories: The 60th Anniversary Collection, Vol 3 (Norwalk, Connecticut: Easton Press, 1990) [anth: Astounding Stories: hb/Howard V Brown]
- The Best of Astounding: Classic Short Novels from the Golden Age of Science Fiction (New York: Carroll and Graf, 1992) [anth: stories assembled from the above three: Astounding Stories: hb/Tony Greco]
individual titles as editor
- Man and the Future (Lawrence, Kansas: University Press of Kansas, 1968) [nonfiction: anth: hb/]
- Nebula Award Stories Ten (New York: Harper and Row, 1975) [anth: Nebula Anthologies: Nebula Awards: hb/]
- The New Encyclopedia of Science Fiction (New York: Viking Press, 1988) [encyclopedia: percentage of book written as well as edited by Gunn not determined: hb/Todd Radom]
- Speculations on Speculation: Theories of Science Fiction (Lanham, Maryland: Scarecrow Press, 2005) with Matthew Candelaria [nonfiction: pb/]
- Reading Science Fiction (New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2008) with Marleen S Barr and Matthew Candelaria [nonfiction: pb/Mel Hunter]
about the author
- Chris Drumm. A James Gunn Checklist (Polk City, Iowa: Chris Drumm, 1984) [bibliography: chap: pb/nonpictorial]
links
- James Gunn
- Gunn Center for the Study of Science Fiction
- Internet Speculative Fiction Database
- Picture Gallery
previous versions of this entry